Silicon Labs' BGM220 Family, and New Development Kit, Aim to Ease Power-Sipping Bluetooth 5.2 Work
Available in SIP and larger but cheaper PCB variants, the new BGM220 parts include Bluetooth 5.2, Bluetooth Low Energy, and Bluetooth Mesh.
Silicon Labs has launched two new security-focused Bluetooth 5.2 system-on-chip (SoC) modules, an ultra-compact system-in-package (SIP) variant and a larger PCB-based model — complete with a starter kit to aid with system development.
Brought to our attention by CNX Software, the new Silicon Labs BGM220S and BGM220P — SIP and PCB respectively — feature an Arm Cortex-M33 processing core, up to 32kB of RAM, up to 512kB of flash memory, and a 2.4GHz radio transceiver offering up to 8dBm output power with Bluetooth 5.2, Bluetooth Low Energy, Bluetooth Mesh on selected models, and direction-finding capabilities.
Designed for ultra-low-power use, Silicon Labs has measured the parts at drawing 4.3ma receive and 4.8mA transmit, 26μA/MHz in active mode, and just 1.4μA in "Deep Sleep" mode — a mode which keeps the real-time clock (RTC) running and retains full RAM contents. Each includes up to 25 general-purpose input/output (GPIO) pins, an analog-to-digital converter, PWM, I2C, DMS, and PDM for a microphone input.
The key difference between both parts: The SIP variant measures a mere 6x6x1.1mm (around 0.24x0.24x0.04in), while the PCB-based version is designed to be easier to work with but ups the size to 12.9x15x2.2mm (around 0.51x0.59x0.09in). All arrive ready-certified to the usual international regulations.
For developers, Silicon Labs has also launched the BGM220 Bluetooth Module Wireless Starter Kit, a development board designed to ease experimentation with the new modules.
Full details can be found on the Silicon Labs website.